Journal of biosocial science
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Human breast milk is primarily colostrum immediately following birth. Colostrum gradually changes to mature milk over the next several days. The role of colostrum in fighting infections and promoting growth and development of the newborn is widely acknowledged. ⋯ Time to initial breast-feeding was delayed slightly, but significantly, for older mothers, for male infants, and by mothers who did not report delivery complications. The percentage of mothers who fed their child colostrum was higher, and times to initial breast-feeding were shorter, than almost all previous reports from South Asia. These findings might be explained, in part, by methodological differences among studies, but it is suggested that recent changes towards earlier initiation of breast-feeding have taken place in rural Bangladesh.
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This study explores the factors associated with neonatal mortality and maternal health care in Nepal. The subjects were 4375 births reported in the 1996 Nepal Family Health Survey. ⋯ Four aspects of maternal care were found to be highly associated with region, household ownership of assets, mother's education and father's education. This indicates that accessibility, affordability and availability of maternal health care are important factors to consider in future research on neonatal mortality.